kgmobley

Today we had to call Lexus Roadside Assistance to have the battery jumped for a second time in two months. The first time, Lexus replaced the battery. This time the service department claims everything is okay, and we are not driving the car enough. My wife drove the car 5 miles three days ago. I drove the car 15 miles on Monday.

Has anyone had similar problems?

tfischer

I don't drive mine a lot in town, and often it sits for a week at a time or more, especially in winter (in a basement garage, which stays pretty warm). Most of my intown trips are 7 - 10 miles. After almost 3 years, I have about 15,000 miles, but many of them have been the result of road trips of 500 to 700 miles, and back.

With all of that, I have the original battery (April of 2001) and have never had a problem.

Your story does not sound right. Either there is something wrong with the battery that prevents it from holding its charge, or there is something in the car causing a drain while the car is parked, or you are doing something to stress the battery, like operating the top without the engine running (we know not to EVER do that). I would think that with all that fancy equipment in the dealer's shop they would be able fo determine what the cause of this problem is.

JCtx

I used to have that problem with other cars, and now I charge the batteries on my vehicles every week (or two). I noticed the SC430 draws more current than any other car I've had, so it's critical to charge the battery often for longevity. Expensive cars like this should have come equipped with a gel battery, which resists discharging more than a 'wet' battery, and DOESN'T LEAK!
After noticing my battery was being discharged rapidly, I noticed the water level was low, and proceeded to fill it up to the upper line. Well, it made a mess on my engine; I have no idea how stupid acid jumped to the engine. In fact, acid splashed everywhere except where it's supposed to go (go figure). After pulling the battery out, it was obvious it's tilted backward on the car, so filling it to the upper mark actually overfilled it. FILL IT UP ON THE FLOOR. Since I had to remove a good amount of acid, I'm predicting an early death for this one, even though I charge it weekly.
It really pissed me off to see that damage on my brand new car, primarily due to a bad drainage design, but I didn't bother to take it to the dealer; I know their answer. Besides, I don't think it's necessary to replace a valve cover just for a little etching damage, that's not visible with the battery in place. I was lazy not to pull the battery out, and had to do it anyway; learn from my mistake.

Good day.

JC

VVT-i

I agree with JC, the SC have so much toys and ECU's to control them. Plus the SC have to added more motors and ECU's to control the top. My GS430 does the same thing if I let it sit for a while and don't drive it enough for the alternator to fully chargr the battery. After my OEM battery started to show the sign of slow cranking. I switch to Optima yellow top( Gel type) and I'm happy with it.

tfischer

As my battery is about 3 years old, I will have to replace it in the next year regardless, as I think 3-4 years is about the life expectancy of Mfgr's batteries.

Which Yellow Top did you use. I looked at the Optima Web pages, and it could not "match" teir products to a Lexus SC of any type (which seems strange).

Also, did you just get one at auto zone?

Thanks.

VVT-i

I'm talking about my GS430 ( please read my post), but I think the SC should be the same. I got mine at Costco. Just make sure the positive and negative of the battery are on the same side as the OEM, then you will be fine.

Roofless

The batteries used in the 2001 build models are rock solid. Almost 18,000 miles and still going strong. Last week I accidentally left one of the interior lights on and didn't drive the SC for a few days. When I got in, the light was still on bright as ever and the car cranked right up. I was impressed.

A BIG TIP: One of our early posters here discovered that leaving your headlights in Auto position on the stalk uses battery power. Turning this off solved his low battery problems. Since I don't drive my SC every day, I also keep this off.

kgmobley

The Lexus service department ran tests and determined that the system is pulling 300 MA of power when the car is off (very little according to the service department). .They stated that the following are the causes for the dead battery:

1. The car has a lot of memory features that pull on the battery when the ignition is turned off
2. Starting the car requires a lots of battery power
3. Driving the car for a short distance does not fully charge the battery
4. The battery and charging system is perfect, the battery on ran down because it was not charged up enough to start the car (the car requires a lot of power to start).

They recommended pulling the fuse to kill the memory features when the car is going to sit for a week or more.

As for the Gel battery, what is the difference between the Gel and battery that comes with the car?

Kevin

JCtx

The anwer is simple Kevin: it doesn't leak, discharges a little slower, is more tolerant to sulfation, and therefore lasts longer. Downside? You guessed it: cost.
At the end it's still a lead-acid battery (arcaic technology), but that's the best way to have it. The other kind is the AGM (absorbed glass mat), which is still a lot better than the 'wet' type we have on our cars. All three kinds are different ways to store the acid in (usually) 6 lead cells.

If anybody find a gel or AGM battery the size of the original, please post it here. It has to be just about the dimensions as the stock one, to be able to use the stock sleeve and bracket. It can't be any taller, as it already touches the hood liner.

Good day guys.

JC

1NICESC430

kg ...

Why don't you get a BatteryTender if you're going to keep your car off the road for several days at a time?

The only downside is forgetting it's attached and driving off with it. Which would be not quite as embarrassing as this is:

tfischer

What the dealer is saying does not comport with my experience.

I had an SC400 for 10 years and only changed the battery once.
I have had my SC430 since 2 weeks after the introduction date (April 01) and the original battery seems fine to me.

I drive it only once or twice a week at most, and my trips around town are often very short.

This is a giant battery, and "memory" devices (radio stations??) in the car just don't draw a lot of power. I did read that the headlight "Auto" setting draws a lot of power, but I never use that. (I can tell when it gets dark all by my own self, so this is not a hardship.)

ELP: I looked at the Optima Yellow Top on the web pages, and it seems that the dimensions are very, very close to the original Lexus battery, which is in a clamp-down holder of some sort. The only instalation problem I can see would be that the OEM battery has the terminals right at the edges of the battery, and the cables terminate in a right angel bracket. From the photos, it looks like the Optima terminals are set back from the edges of the battery, which means that the original cables would not fit unless the terminal ends could be flattened, which is probably not a big deal.

If anybody has installed one of these Optimas with the Swell Gel into an SC430, let us know.

kgmobley

Thanks tfischer. We do not use the auto sensing headlight mode. We turn the lights on and off. I agree that the dealer’s explanation is fishy. If it happens again, then I am going to push the issue more with service.

Kevin

alfa2600

My battery has just gone sour after 3 years and 26,000 miles, jumpstarted it, drove 80 miles, was OK for a few days and died again. Now again jumped and running, will have to take it into the dealer and sqawk. Is the warranty still good? Keep the car in a public garage so there is no way to hook up a trickle charger, to pull the fuse won't be a good idea either as the garagement won't be able to move it. Probably should get a top quality battery of some kind but I havent' seen anyone come into the forum suggesting one that will fit. Of course 3 years is not too bad and I could just get another original equipment battery.

tfischer

In my experience, 3 to 4 years is about the life span of a car battery.

In April, mine will be 3 years, and since I got my car during the 2nd or 3rd week of sales, there can't be many older ones out there.

Folks here have suggested looking at the Optima gel type. I made an inquiry to a battery dealer because the web pages did not reutrn a match to the SC430, and he mentioned this:

I recommend the Red Top Optima for this application.
Your car requires a Group 48, and OPTIMA doesnt have
an exact match.
I have sold the 800s RedTop for your applications,
and it fit well.


I don't know if "Group 48" refers to size or power.

These batteries are carried at AutoZone and other retailers listed on the optima site, as well as through some on line sellers, like batteriesareus.

If I were at the actual buying stage, I would get some exact measurements of the original battery, and not go any larger. Be especially careful about the height measurement, as it looks to me like the original battery is already close to the hood, as mentioned above. There may be some extra room in the battery carrier for a slightly wider one.

Finally, the Optima yellow top line seems to be a heavier duty (and slightly more expensive) line than the red tops. If the size is right, despite the email from the salesman, I would be inclined to go with the yellow top, as a little extra power is always nice.

JCtx

I think the yellow is a 'deep cycle', making the red one, which should be lighter and smaller, a better application for a car. Can somebody corroborate that?
I'm looking forward to some measurements as well.